Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to an electrical connection box incorporated into an automobile or the like, and more particularly, to an electrical connection box provided with an insulating plate supporting a load applied on a connection terminal.
An electrical connection box, such as a junction box, has been employed in an automobile or the like to efficiently distribute a power supply from a battery to respective electrical components. As is described, for example, in JP-A-2009-26464, such an electrical connection box has an internal circuit formed of a printed-circuit board and a bus bar and the printed-circuit board and the bus bar are provided with connection terminals protruding to the outside of a case and thereby making themselves connectable to electrical parts, such as a connector and a fuse.
In general, the connection terminals are susceptible to a physical load, such as a press force and a pull-out force, at the time of attachment and detachment of electrical parts. Accordingly, the connection terminals may undergo deformation or the printed-circuit board may undergo deflection, thereby giving rise to solder cracking or damage to printed wiring. To eliminate these inconveniences, as is described in the reference document cited above, an input load to the connection terminals may be supported by supporting the printed-circuit board and the bus bar on an insulting plate. The insulating plate can be made of synthetic resin and of an integral structure with a stiffening rib to ensure strength, for example.
The insulating plate of this structure, however, can require a large amount of a resin material to form the rib. Using such an insulating plate can therefore raise a problem that not only increases the manufacturing costs but also a weight of the electrical connection box. Also, because the insulating plate is superimposed on the printed-circuit board entirely, heat dissipation may become poor due to deterioration of air convection.